Steve Irwin (crocodile hunter) dies..........
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BratTink
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I've read this whole thread and agree with and appreciate everything everyone has written about Steve. I too want to say that I cannot imagine what his family and friends are currently going through. Right now on Animal Planet is a rerun of a "bio" about Steve. There was a segment with Wes Mannion talking about the tragic death of Steve's mom. From watching his show over the years I'm pretty sure that Wes and Steve were like brothers. My heart goes out to Wes for his loss.
And, I got onto the crocodilehunter.com website. The opening page is replaced by the following message:
Steve Irwin
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughters new TV series.
Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steves rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon.
His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today,
The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!
And, I got onto the crocodilehunter.com website. The opening page is replaced by the following message:
Steve Irwin
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughters new TV series.
Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steves rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon.
His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today,
The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!
Tiggerlover91
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judi said:
Incredible. Thank you.
Stepharoonie!
<font color=teal>NOTHING is scarier than Wilford B
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This was on Wikipedia:
Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time on September 4, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb while diving in Batt Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef), off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting,[25] when, according to his friend and colleague John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the animals. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
The events were caught on camera, and the footage was handed to the Queensland Police.[26] After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and fisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead. "[26] In such a case, the stingray responds by automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail up to a maximum of 25 cm (10 in) of length.
"He came over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand, and the barb came up and hit him in the chest," Stainton said. Cropp said Irwin had accidentally boxed the animal in. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest. It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger." The stinging of Irwin by the Bull Ray was "a one-in-a-million thing," Cropp told Time magazine. "I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me."[27] In this case, the motion struck Irwin's chest and pierced his heart.[26] Crewmembers aboard his boat called emergency services in the nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Lowe Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later.[28] The barb lodged in his chest and the toxins of the barb caused Irwin to die of cardiac arrest.[29]
This was only the third known fatality in Australian history from a stingray attack. Only seventeen worldwide fatalities have taken place since 1996, and it is believed to be the only fatal attack ever captured on film.[30]
Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time on September 4, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb while diving in Batt Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef), off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting,[25] when, according to his friend and colleague John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the animals. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
The events were caught on camera, and the footage was handed to the Queensland Police.[26] After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and fisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead. "[26] In such a case, the stingray responds by automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail up to a maximum of 25 cm (10 in) of length.
"He came over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand, and the barb came up and hit him in the chest," Stainton said. Cropp said Irwin had accidentally boxed the animal in. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest. It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger." The stinging of Irwin by the Bull Ray was "a one-in-a-million thing," Cropp told Time magazine. "I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me."[27] In this case, the motion struck Irwin's chest and pierced his heart.[26] Crewmembers aboard his boat called emergency services in the nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Lowe Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later.[28] The barb lodged in his chest and the toxins of the barb caused Irwin to die of cardiac arrest.[29]
This was only the third known fatality in Australian history from a stingray attack. Only seventeen worldwide fatalities have taken place since 1996, and it is believed to be the only fatal attack ever captured on film.[30]
Stepharoonie!
<font color=teal>NOTHING is scarier than Wilford B
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Terri could release Irwin footage
September 05, 2006 08:45am
Article from: NEWS.com.au
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STEVE Irwin's grieving wife Terri will have the final say on whether footage of his last moments alive is made public, the head of the US TV company that broadcasts his show said today.
The film has already been handed to Queensland police preparing a report for the Coroner as fans worldwide come to grips with the "freak" death.
Billy Campbell, the president of Discovery Networks, which owns the Animal Planet channel, said it was far too early to decide what footage viewers would see from Irwin's fatal trip on the Great Barrier Reef.
Talks would take place with Terri at a suitable time, he said.
"It's still too early," Mr Campbell said. "We'll have to take a look at it."
Irwin suffered a deadly blow from a stingray yesterday while shooting footage for a new show he was doing with his eight-year-old daughter, Bindi.
Mr Campbell, who will fly to Australia for Irwin's funeral, said he would also ask Terri whether she would like Bindi's show to go ahead.
"In terms of the Bindi show, a lot of that will depend on the conversations I have with Terri in a couple of days," he said.
"I want to give her a few days to mourn and think through things. "We'll talk about that in due time.
"Should they want to move forward, then definitely we will move forward."
Irwin, 44, was killed almost instantly when the stingray stabbed him in the heart with its poisonous 20cm barb as he snorkelled off Port Douglas, in north Queensland, yesterday morning.
His American-born wife, Terri, was trekking in Tasmania's Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair National Park when the news broke of her husband's death and was last night being raced back to Queensland with her two children Bindi, 8, and Bob, 2.
"The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it," said boatowner Peter West, who viewed the footage afterwards.
"There was no blood in the water, it was not that obvious ... something happened with this animal that made it rear and he was at the wrong position at the wrong time and if it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality."
Irwin was shooting a documentary on dangerous marine life, in shallow water at Bat Reef, about 32 nautical-miles offshore, about 11am (AEST).
Tributes poured in from around world for Irwin, a renowned environmentalist who was estimated to be earning more than $4 million a year from his Queensland reptile park, Australia Zoo.
Footage of the attack shows Irwin swimming above a 2.5m stingray before it turns on him and sends a poisonous barb through his heart.
Irwin was pulled from the water by a cameraman and a crewman, put on an inflatable tender and taken to a support boat about 500m away.
Crewmembers said he was barely conscious in the minutes after the sting, but died as his production team rushed him to his vessel, Croc One, and to a nearby island for emergency treatment.
A charter dive boat crew desperately tried to revive him on the beach, but were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards by Queensland Rescue Service officers, who had flown to the area by helicopter.
Irwin's body was last night flown to Cairns for a post-mortem as police seized all available evidence and interviewed witnesses in order to prepare a report for the Coroner.
A coronial inquest is expected.
Producer, director and life-long friend John Stainton yesterday said Irwin did not provoke the stingray and was simply swimming above it when he was attacked.
"He came over the top of a stingray and the stingray barb went up and into his chest and into his heart," producer Stainton said.
"It's likely that he possibly died instantly when the barb hit him and I hope he felt no pain."
One of Irwin's contemporaries, internationally known cameraman and spearfisherman Ben Cropp, was in his own boat off Port Douglas when Irwin was killed.
"I have just spoken to a cameraman friend who was there and has seen the footage," Mr Cropp told The Australian last night.
"He was up in the shallow water, probably 1.5m to 2m deep, following a bull ray which was about a metre across the body - probably weighing about 100kg, and it had quite a large spine. The cameraman was filming in the water."
Mr Cropp said the stingray was spooked and went into defensive mood.
"It probably felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead, and it felt there was danger and it baulked.
"It stopped and went into a defensive mode and swung its tail with the spike.
"Steve unfortunately was in a bad position and copped it.
"I have had that happen to me, and I can visualise it - when a ray goes into defensive, you get out of the way.
"Steve was so close he could not get away, so if you can imagine it - being right beside the ray and it swinging its spine upwards from underneath Steve - and it hit him.
"I have seen that sort of reaction with rays - with their tail breaking the water, such is the force."
Internationally renowned jellyfish sting expert Jamie Seymour was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
Irwin had decided yesterday morning to shoot a segment of film on stingrays for a new television program that will be hosted by his daughter Bindi.
Surf Lifesavers national marine stinger adviser Lisa-Ann Gershwin said there had only been 17 fatal stingray attacks worldwide. "I think it's just an extraordinary freak accident that has happened to his heart," she said.
"A lot of people will be afraid by this, but they need to keep in mind that this was a freak accident, it was a terrible tragedy but it is not common."
Dr Gershwin said stingray stings to the legs or arms were common and, while painful, were not normally considered dangerous. She said there were many different types of stingrays, with barbs on their tails up to 30cm long, and they poisoned victims with a range of toxins.
Mr West said the barb was like a "very rough knife" and while fatal stingray stings had been known to occur, filming and swimming alongside the animal was commonplace among marine filmmakers.
Mr Cropp said he was told that the strike was "close to the heart and Steve had a cardiac arrest".
"At first they treated him as being wounded, but he didn't survive unfortunately," he said.
"The second boat in attendance raced in to give assistance and they radioed for help.
"They went into Low Isle and met the chopper which took Steve's body out."
In September 2004, Mr Cropp was attacked by a tiger shark on Bott Reef. "The rays in Australia and particularly in the north are not like those on the Cayman Islands, which are very quiet and allow people to ride on their backs," he said.
"At this time of the year they are on the lookout for tiger sharks and are very frisky.
"They are not aggressive. In fact they are very timid, but they defend themselves by throwing their tail spine upwards, and there is a spike on the tip about 20cm long which they can use like a dagger."
With AAP and The Australian
September 05, 2006 08:45am
Article from: NEWS.com.au
Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
STEVE Irwin's grieving wife Terri will have the final say on whether footage of his last moments alive is made public, the head of the US TV company that broadcasts his show said today.
The film has already been handed to Queensland police preparing a report for the Coroner as fans worldwide come to grips with the "freak" death.
Billy Campbell, the president of Discovery Networks, which owns the Animal Planet channel, said it was far too early to decide what footage viewers would see from Irwin's fatal trip on the Great Barrier Reef.
Talks would take place with Terri at a suitable time, he said.
"It's still too early," Mr Campbell said. "We'll have to take a look at it."
Irwin suffered a deadly blow from a stingray yesterday while shooting footage for a new show he was doing with his eight-year-old daughter, Bindi.
Mr Campbell, who will fly to Australia for Irwin's funeral, said he would also ask Terri whether she would like Bindi's show to go ahead.
"In terms of the Bindi show, a lot of that will depend on the conversations I have with Terri in a couple of days," he said.
"I want to give her a few days to mourn and think through things. "We'll talk about that in due time.
"Should they want to move forward, then definitely we will move forward."
Irwin, 44, was killed almost instantly when the stingray stabbed him in the heart with its poisonous 20cm barb as he snorkelled off Port Douglas, in north Queensland, yesterday morning.
His American-born wife, Terri, was trekking in Tasmania's Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair National Park when the news broke of her husband's death and was last night being raced back to Queensland with her two children Bindi, 8, and Bob, 2.
"The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it," said boatowner Peter West, who viewed the footage afterwards.
"There was no blood in the water, it was not that obvious ... something happened with this animal that made it rear and he was at the wrong position at the wrong time and if it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality."
Irwin was shooting a documentary on dangerous marine life, in shallow water at Bat Reef, about 32 nautical-miles offshore, about 11am (AEST).
Tributes poured in from around world for Irwin, a renowned environmentalist who was estimated to be earning more than $4 million a year from his Queensland reptile park, Australia Zoo.
Footage of the attack shows Irwin swimming above a 2.5m stingray before it turns on him and sends a poisonous barb through his heart.
Irwin was pulled from the water by a cameraman and a crewman, put on an inflatable tender and taken to a support boat about 500m away.
Crewmembers said he was barely conscious in the minutes after the sting, but died as his production team rushed him to his vessel, Croc One, and to a nearby island for emergency treatment.
A charter dive boat crew desperately tried to revive him on the beach, but were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards by Queensland Rescue Service officers, who had flown to the area by helicopter.
Irwin's body was last night flown to Cairns for a post-mortem as police seized all available evidence and interviewed witnesses in order to prepare a report for the Coroner.
A coronial inquest is expected.
Producer, director and life-long friend John Stainton yesterday said Irwin did not provoke the stingray and was simply swimming above it when he was attacked.
"He came over the top of a stingray and the stingray barb went up and into his chest and into his heart," producer Stainton said.
"It's likely that he possibly died instantly when the barb hit him and I hope he felt no pain."
One of Irwin's contemporaries, internationally known cameraman and spearfisherman Ben Cropp, was in his own boat off Port Douglas when Irwin was killed.
"I have just spoken to a cameraman friend who was there and has seen the footage," Mr Cropp told The Australian last night.
"He was up in the shallow water, probably 1.5m to 2m deep, following a bull ray which was about a metre across the body - probably weighing about 100kg, and it had quite a large spine. The cameraman was filming in the water."
Mr Cropp said the stingray was spooked and went into defensive mood.
"It probably felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead, and it felt there was danger and it baulked.
"It stopped and went into a defensive mode and swung its tail with the spike.
"Steve unfortunately was in a bad position and copped it.
"I have had that happen to me, and I can visualise it - when a ray goes into defensive, you get out of the way.
"Steve was so close he could not get away, so if you can imagine it - being right beside the ray and it swinging its spine upwards from underneath Steve - and it hit him.
"I have seen that sort of reaction with rays - with their tail breaking the water, such is the force."
Internationally renowned jellyfish sting expert Jamie Seymour was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
Irwin had decided yesterday morning to shoot a segment of film on stingrays for a new television program that will be hosted by his daughter Bindi.
Surf Lifesavers national marine stinger adviser Lisa-Ann Gershwin said there had only been 17 fatal stingray attacks worldwide. "I think it's just an extraordinary freak accident that has happened to his heart," she said.
"A lot of people will be afraid by this, but they need to keep in mind that this was a freak accident, it was a terrible tragedy but it is not common."
Dr Gershwin said stingray stings to the legs or arms were common and, while painful, were not normally considered dangerous. She said there were many different types of stingrays, with barbs on their tails up to 30cm long, and they poisoned victims with a range of toxins.
Mr West said the barb was like a "very rough knife" and while fatal stingray stings had been known to occur, filming and swimming alongside the animal was commonplace among marine filmmakers.
Mr Cropp said he was told that the strike was "close to the heart and Steve had a cardiac arrest".
"At first they treated him as being wounded, but he didn't survive unfortunately," he said.
"The second boat in attendance raced in to give assistance and they radioed for help.
"They went into Low Isle and met the chopper which took Steve's body out."
In September 2004, Mr Cropp was attacked by a tiger shark on Bott Reef. "The rays in Australia and particularly in the north are not like those on the Cayman Islands, which are very quiet and allow people to ride on their backs," he said.
"At this time of the year they are on the lookout for tiger sharks and are very frisky.
"They are not aggressive. In fact they are very timid, but they defend themselves by throwing their tail spine upwards, and there is a spike on the tip about 20cm long which they can use like a dagger."
With AAP and The Australian
lovmy2girls
DIS Veteran<br><font color=purple>I tell ya, if yo
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I was shocked when I read it too. I feel so bad for the wife and kids. 
He will be missed by a lot of people.
He will be missed by a lot of people.
MB MinnieGirl
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Sparx said:
I've been watching Animal Planet for the past hour or so with tears coming down my face.
What a truly wonderful person...it's all so very sad. One thing Steve said in an interview shown on AP tonight was that his life "will be complete when he is able to pass the torch onto his children so they can take over his work with conservation and wildlife."
How terrible he didn't live to see this in them both.
~~~Kelly
palmtreegirl
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magicmouse2 said:
Not sure but we were at Silver Springs near Ocala today and after one of the shows that animal caretaker spoke about Steve and his death. The guy said Steve has visited Silver Springs and he was an incredible teacher, the poor guy got choked up talking about him and he asked that we all have a moment of silence in memory of Steve.
IwasatWDWforamonth
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This is a sad night, watching the shows on animal planet is heart wrenching,
I loved Steve , im heartbroken, I feel so bad for his family.
He was such an awesome man.
I loved Steve , im heartbroken, I feel so bad for his family.
He was such an awesome man.
This is especially sad for me as his son, Bob and my son, Walker are the same age as are our daughters. I remember holding my new baby boy and seeing the story about Steve feeding crocs while holding his new baby. I was totally on his side knowing that he would have NEVER let anything happen to his precious child! I just didn't see that the same way that some people did. We used to watch his shows over and over laughing every time! We even dressed as Steve and Terri one halloween. Anyway, our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and their two precious children! His memory will live on!
Nutsy
<font color=green>Only drinks Cappuccino<br><font
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Don't know if anyone is interested, but should anyone wish to donate to Steve's Wildlife Conservation Fund log on to ...
www.yahoo7.com.au/sunrise and go from there.
The Zoo entrance is covered in floral tributes and they are still rolling in.. he was one very loved, very genuine, vey passionate bloke.
www.yahoo7.com.au/sunrise and go from there.
The Zoo entrance is covered in floral tributes and they are still rolling in.. he was one very loved, very genuine, vey passionate bloke.
mylilnikita
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Absolutely shocking! May he rest in peace. He died doing what he loved doing.
Nutsy
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Irwin in conversation
ONE of the most revealing interviews Steve Irwin ever gave was to ABC TV's Enough Rope with Andrew Denton in 2003. Here are some of the highlights from that conversation:
Andrew Denton: I'm looking forward to this, it'll be fun.
Steve Irwin: It will be. I'm on fire, mate. Let's get into it.
Andrew Denton: We're already at the red level for energy and haven't got to the first question. The Australia Zoo, which is now Steve Irwin central on the Sunshine Coast...
Steve Irwin: Yeah, mate, that's where my heart beats from.
Andrew Denton: This was started by your mum and dad...
Steve Irwin: Yeah.
Andrew Denton: ..back in the '70s. And it was hard, wasn't it? It was so hard sometimes, your mum would cry. What was so tough?
Steve Irwin: Well, mate, it was 1970 and, um, Dad was a plumber - really well-to-do plumber - he did really well in Melbourne. But he gave it all away to follow his passion - reptiles. And Mum was a maternity nurse who actually wanted to follow her passion, which was joey kangaroos and koalas and wombats and platypus - raising them - you know, they're getting hit by cars all the time. So, together, they started the Beerwah Reptile Park in 1970. And it was tough times. We were on the main highway - like, the Bruce Highway - but, um, it was the Beerwah Reptile Park. And at that stage, snakes were something you hit with a stick, you know, crocodiles were just evil, ugly monsters that killed people and koalas and kangaroos made, you know, great, um, fur coats.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: So it was hard times, mate.
Andrew Denton: They weren't a bad barbecue either.
Steve Irwin: Ohhh!
Steve Irwin: Lucky enough, we're kind of...we're putting our foot on that kind of attitude, but, um...
Andrew Denton: No, that was wrong, people.
Steve Irwin: And it was, yeah, tourism... Exactly. And I'm bigger than you, mate.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: Hey, um, tourism... Just kidding. Steady.
Andrew Denton: This could be bad if you wrestle me to the ground...
Steve Irwin: Should we do that?
AUDIENCE: Yeah!
Steve Irwin: Yeah? Alright!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Andrew Denton: Tell you what...
Steve Irwin: (Laughs)
Andrew Denton: ..let's get a bit further in and we'll see how we go, alright?
Steve Irwin: Yeah.
Andrew Denton: Because I want to oil up first...
Steve Irwin: (Laughs) Seriously, tourism, was, you know, it was in its infancy back then and it was so tough that Dad had to go fishing on the sideline, he had to grow strawberries and capsicums to actually support, um, his...his passion, which was his wildlife facility.
Andrew Denton: You grew up with the animals. They were your playmates.
Steve Irwin: Absolutely. Absolutely, Andrew. In my house, when I was growing up, Mum would have 12, uh, pouches, you know, make-believe kangaroo pouches set up on the backs of chairs, virtually everywhere. So we'd have 12 little joeys, ranging from little pinkies all the way up to one-year-olds. Um, you know, koalas hanging off the curtains, you know, with gumleaves stuck in there, sugar gliders gliding through. Like, you'd be walking down through the house... (To cameraman) Stay with me, mate. ..the next minute, clack, you know, on your bare back you'd be...a possum - arggh! - ripped into you. And, of course, inside the house was just snakesville.
Andrew Denton: Really?
Steve Irwin: Oh, crikey, mate! Chock-a-block full of snakes. Every wall that was spare had snakes in it. You know, starting a reptile park, which then became a fauna sanctuary, it was like, whatever you could jam in the house, mate, 'cause everything needed to be close to your heart.
Andrew Denton: Your dad actually reckons you've got a gift.
Steve Irwin: Yeah.
Andrew Denton: An animal instinct which enables you to deal with animals. What is that gift, do you think?
Steve Irwin: Yeah, well, um, Dad was the first one to notice it - and good on him. I'm just a product of my parents and my environment. And I was four years old and Dad was catching snakes for the then Commonwealth Serum Laboratory, right? He was looking for brown snakes and tiger snakes at a place called Bulla in Victoria. And so we're looking for tiger snakes and brown snakes and I'm four years old and rattling around helping him. But, you know, I was playing imaginary games, imaginary armies. You know, shooting back at the...it was Japanese back then, 'cause my grandfather and great-grandfather died in WWII, so it was the Japanese I was hunting. Whatever. Please don't... Like, I...I drive a Toyota.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Steve Irwin: So, nonetheless... Hunting around, hunting around, and Dad's over there and here's this huge brown snake - a absolute whopper, well over five foot. (Stands up) I've come up and gone, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" (Stomps foot on imaginary snake) Like this. "Oh! Oh!" You know? Got it. "Dad! Dad! I got one! I got one!" And he's, like, "What is he on about?" "Look!" And here's this brown snake, Andy, and it's up on my shin. Like, I'm wearing plastic sandals. No socks either. And here's this brown snake with its head on my leg and I've got it pinned, almost as thick as my dad's wrist. And he's gone, "Whack," and belted me out of the way, crushed me like a bug. 'Cause I thought... I'd got this brown snake for him and thought I'd come out of this a hero, and he decks me. But he thought he saved my life, and, you know, for months, he's scratching his head. "How come that kid never got killed by that brown snake?" And I guess he figured it out then. He's figured, "This kid's got something." So, you know, he's watched this develop. Then Mum and Dad just propped me up. Just propped me up. Every time I'd make mistakes, they'd keep, "Hang in there, lad, hang in there." And they just kept helping me and persuading me to follow my passion, which was wildlife. And that, in essence, helped me be who I am.
Andrew Denton: I'm fascinated with this idea of this gift. Do you have a sense of it? When dealing with an animal, do you have a sense of, "I know what you'll do"? I mean, can you pick its personality, for instance? What is it in your head?
Steve Irwin: How on earth could I explain that? You know, I'm in Africa, right, and here's...here's...here's a pride of lions. I've never worked with lions in my life, ever. Righto. Got a camera crew with me. I'm, like, "Oh, yeah, there's a pride of lions. "Oh, I'm going to crawl up to them." Like, last week, a Japanese tourist got killed and eaten by a lion, probably the same pride that did it. But for some known...unknown thing that goes in my head and my heart, I know what I can do. So I get on all fours and I go up to these lions and sneak right up to them. And Johnny Stainton, who's around here somewhere, he's filming it, and he's like this... (Blows raspberry) "What's he doing?" I get up to the lions and go, "Eh!" They go, "Waaah!" and run off. How do you explain that? I don't know how to explain that. And I've never been bitten by a venomous snake. I play with them every day - well, kind of play with them - and never, ever been bitten. And I think that's, um...it's because when I grab a venomous snake, it's, like, going in on your shoelace. It's, like, people tie their shoes... (Grabs Andrew's shoelace roughly)
Andrew Denton: Yeah?
Steve Irwin: Yeah. Don't really give a rip. Whereas me, it's like, "Oh." (Gently handles shoelace) You know, you're very gentle with the shoelace. It's like this, mate. Most people deal with snakes - no, fair dinkum - the first thing they do is go for the head. Get them from the head, right?
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: (Reaching for Andrew's neck) What's the sensation when someone goes for your head? Pretty threatening, isn't it?
Andrew Denton: Tell the truth - is there ever a time when you're afraid?
Steve Irwin: Yeah, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty. Plenty of times. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I have to deal in some really heavy-duty places, you know, like, um, East Timor, for example. I was up there when there was some strife going on. I spend a fair bit of time in Central and South America with a bit of strife going on there, had a couple of nasty incidents happen in Africa, in Kenya, not long after the Nairobi bombing, actually. Yeah, they make me scared, like, you know, pretty scared. But what scares me more than anything is bringing my daughter into the world. The world has changed, Andrew, hasn't it? You know, there's this dark cloud of terrorism. She's been on 230-odd flights, I think, and she's, like, just five years old. So we spend a lot of time in planes, 'cause I like to take my family wherever I go in the world. People factor does actually scare the living daylights out of me, and I've seen some pretty awful, icky sort of things going on.
Andrew Denton: So animals don't scare you but humans do?
Steve Irwin: Oh, fair dinkum, mate, they do, yeah, they do.
Andrew Denton: I want to talk more about family in a little bit, but I'm curious in you offstage when you're not performing. Is there anything in your wardrobe that's not khaki?
Steve Irwin: Ah, I've got a pair of jeans.
Andrew Denton: Are you always at this level? Is there a quiet Steve Irwin?
Steve Irwin: Nah.
LAUGHTER
Steve Irwin: Nah, mate, nah.
Andrew Denton: Seriously?
Steve Irwin: Yeah, no, there is, there is. Like, I got...I had my shoulder taken off twice. (Opens shirt and indicates place) Um, oh, God, I was quiet then, mate.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: And I had a few cartilage operations, so stuck in the hospital with the drips and all that.
Andrew Denton: Beyond being heavily medicated, is there...do you have moments of repose, moments of just, "I'll just take it in and sit quietly"?
Steve Irwin: Nah. You know, I have to do a lot of plane flights, and, uh...oh, I'm a handful. I don't know, I haven't made it in the tabloids as the bloke who started the riots and stuff on the planes YET, but I guarantee you it will happen. You know, you can't hang your arm out the window and you can't stop and have a pee and look at the wildlife. You're stuck in this thing for, like, sometimes 14 hours in a leg. You know, like, going to America is a 14-hour stint, mate. It's shocking awful to sit there. And all the... You can't, I'm just... I like a good movie, but not five of them in a row. It's, like... And, you know, I don't read much, you know, like, I'm just...
Andrew Denton: You don't read? How come you don't read?
Steve Irwin: Well, I do read, but, you know, not for 14 hours. You know, surf mags take a good 20 minutes.
Andrew Denton: Do you ever get down? You talked about being frightened by human behaviour. What gets you down?
Steve Irwin: Um, I've been down, mate, I've been down, I've been way down. I've been down...I've been down as far as anyone can go down, mate. I lost my mum in a car crash. I went down, I went right down. I watched my dad suffer. I watched my whole family suffer. And I have never felt pain like that in my entire life, my friend. And what it did for me was it actually hammered home the whole family value thing and what it's like to have a family and you're all...everybody's someone's mum, you know? And I was down, I was down for the count. I was down for...two years I was down. Way down.
Andrew Denton: It's interesting when you say you've mimicked your parents, you look up to your dad, you've basically carried on the family business. Do you have a sense of yourself as yourself? What will it be for you when your father goes? Will you be able to be yourself?
Steve Irwin: I see my dad getting older and older and older, and I must admit I'm scared, I'm really, really scared, that when I lose him that my life is going to change yet again. I am going to go down again. But I'm really lucky that I've got the most drop-dead gorgeous wife on earth, who is just so strong and so passionate and so Stevo-orientated.
LAUGHTER
Steve Irwin: No, mate, you wouldn't... She is... If I said, "Righto, sweetheart, today we're going to jump off a cliff," she'll go, "Righto." She'd pack a bag, though.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: But she'd go, eh?
Andrew Denton: She's practical.
Steve Irwin: Yeah, I've got this thing...I've got the Terry factor, mate. I've got this wife that is so incredibly intelligent and strong that I reckon between us we'll get through it. And, of course, my daughter is like...she's going to be a Tibetan monk. She is, like, incredibly insightful. And when her gran died, she was very, very young but, you know, she'd hold my hand and she'd give me strength. And to this day, when I get an owie, like a croc bites me, you know, she'd put banana leaves on it and stuff, and, you know, make me feel good.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: I guess when that time comes, because... I'm not sure what's going to happen but I've got some strong people, good strong family around me, mate.
Andrew Denton: You say that Terry's very Stevo-oriented.
Steve Irwin: Oh, yeah.
Andrew Denton: If Terry said to you, unlikely though this might be, "Steve, I want you to stop the travelling, I want you to just stay home," would you be prepared to do that? Does it work both ways? She'd jump over a cliff for you.
Steve Irwin: Absolutely, I'd do anything for her. Absolutely anything. My word. I got so lucky in 1992 when she walked into the zoo. I'm doing a crocodile demonstration, and I looked in the crowd. I'd been in the bush for two years catching crocs. Haven't seen any sheilas.
LAUGHTER So, yeah, I was hungry. And, um, come back and I'm doing a croc demo, and I look into the crowd and I see her and I'm, like, "Oh!" (Looks one way) "Whoa whoa whoa!" (Looks back at imaginary croc) To feed the croc, you know... Bloody croc tried to kill me and that. She stayed back and started talking to me and that was it - head over heels in love. And if she says to me, "That's it, we're stopping, we're doing this," then, well, I'd do it, because I know that she would not ask me to do that if it wasn't for the benefit of us - the family. It would have to be for the benefit of my daughter and our kid that's due to come. Otherwise she wouldn't ask. She's not that...you know, she's not that kind of sheila, you know? She's into what I'm into. She's as passionate about wildlife as I am. If I said, "Go up and stick your head in that elephant's bum," she'd do it, mate.
Andrew Denton: You're a smooth talker, Steve Irwin.
Steve Irwin: I am, mate. I am. Romantic.
Andrew Denton: What's your philosophy of fatherhood?
Steve Irwin: Um...my philosophy of fatherhood? You know, I just treat her exactly the same way as I would want to be treated. And, you know, the funny thing is, Andy, I treat my wildlife the same, you know? Like, if there was a croc there, I'd treat that croc like I'd treat my daughter, like I'd treat you, like I'd treat my wife, like I'd treat anyone. I treat things how I, in turn, would want to be treated. So my little kid, I just treat her how I want to be treated. You know how... My mum said, "You can't have ice-cream for breakfast." (Pretends to hand bowl to daughter) "Here, sweetheart, have it."
AUDIENCE GIGGLES
Steve Irwin: "Go hard." And, you know... Yeah. Absolutely. "You want to catch that snake? Sure, it's venomous, but we'll do it and I'll show you how," and we did it.
Andrew Denton: You have animals in the house, don't you?
Steve Irwin: Oh, yeah. My word.
Andrew Denton: She came close to a carpet snake once.
Steve Irwin: Yeah, bit her right on the face. Her first snakebite.
Andrew Denton: Oh, that must have been a proud moment.
Steve Irwin: It was a very proud moment. She's a snake... She's a snake maniac. My kid...my daughter's a snake freak. She loves snakes. Her favourite animal - the snake. You know, born and raised with snakes. So here's this carpet python coming across the road at night - we were going out to Poppy's house, and she's like, "Oh, Daddy, Daddy," you know. I said, "Yeah, don't worry, sweetheart. I'll save it." So I run out and grab the snake and she starts whingeing - "I want the snake!" "Alright, sweetheart, but watch out, he's a bit bitey." She grabs it and she starts singing, "Rock-a-bye, baby," like this. It goes whack! Bites her right on the lip. And she's like... (Almost whimpers) I said, "I told you he would bite you." She's like, "It's OK, Dad. Rock-a-bye..." Whack! Right on the nose. She goes, "Let it go, Dad." Gave it back to me. There's blood all pouring down there. I was very proud of her.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Andrew Denton: Is she...? Because you were raised to have no fear of animals - and it seems to me you naturally didn't - is Bindi the same? Is she going to be the same?
Steve Irwin: I reckon she's, um...she's a bit smarter than I was. In fact, I'd say she's a lot smarter than I was. I think the whole, girl thing... You know, this whole girl-boy thing... I don't know what it's like having a boy, but they don't seem incredibly intelligent till they reach 30. Really, I wasn't all that intelligent till I reached 30. Um, Bindi, I see, is a lot more clever and calculated before she actually jumps in. She'll...unlike me, when I was, say, five years of age, she'd anticipate - "Head, tail, body. Dad's there, he'll take the head. I'll get this bit." Whereas me, I just... "Ahhh!" ..just would have jumped in there. So I think she's a little more clever and calculated than I ever was at that age.
Andrew Denton: A lot of people see you as this... this larger than life Steve Irwin, in some ways a one-dimensional, almost cartoon character. But what they, perhaps, don't know is you've bought huge tracts of land in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji, US. Why have you done that?
Steve Irwin: I'm a conservationist through and through, Andrew. That's, er...that's why I was put on this planet, um, for the benefit of wildlife and wilderness areas. That's what I'm into. That's what makes me pumped, mate. That's what myself and Terry and our families have been all about.
Andrew Denton: So what's this land for?
Steve Irwin: Um, it's like national parks, mate.
Steve Irwin: We... You know, easily the greatest threat to the wildlife globally is the destruction and annihilation of habitat. So I've gone, "Right, well, how do I fix that? Well, making a quid here. People are keen to give me money over there. I'll buy it. I'll buy habitat." And I reckon the only thing wrong... Now, how's this? The only thing wrong with, you know, wildlife in Australia is that I don't own it. I could... Imagine how many kangaroos and crocodiles I could have if I owned Australia? It's, um... My wife is an American so she's got this, er... She's, um...you know, she's a good capitalist. And, er, she's very clever with money. Me, I'm not that clever and I don't really give a rip, but, er, she is. And, um, so whenever we get a...a, um...enough cash and enough...and a...and a chunk of land that we're passionate about, bang, we buy it. And what we're trying to do is we're trying to set an example to the world that, um, every single person can make a difference. Particularly those in the, um, in the political arena, um, those that have zoological facilities, any, you know, multinationals, any millionaires. They can all make a difference by buying chunks of land. And, in addition to that, every single person - man, woman and child, no matter what walk of life you're in, whether you're a, um, a fisherman, a janitor, um, Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter - you can make a difference in wildlife by simply not purchasing wildlife products. Because today, Andrew, the wildlife perpetrators, they're hard to spot, mate. But what it is, these wildlife perpetrators now kill animals and call it 'sustainable use'. That, "Oh, let's kill crocs, turn them into belts and that's sustainable," you know? That isn't sustainable. Since when has killing wildlife saved anything? So, I'm a wildlife warrior through and through. And buying land means: A. that we're going to be able to get animals back if, and or when they become highly endangered; and B. getting out into the world, taking you, the audience, with me, having an adventure, and making it exciting. Otherwise, you're stuck with the demographics that, say, David Attenborough's got which is a bit smaller than what I got. And changing people's opinions on wildlife. How's this? For the first time in history, mate, I've just been involved with an issue where people were worried about the welfare of a shark. How's that? For the first time in history. Yay!
ONE of the most revealing interviews Steve Irwin ever gave was to ABC TV's Enough Rope with Andrew Denton in 2003. Here are some of the highlights from that conversation:
Andrew Denton: I'm looking forward to this, it'll be fun.
Steve Irwin: It will be. I'm on fire, mate. Let's get into it.
Andrew Denton: We're already at the red level for energy and haven't got to the first question. The Australia Zoo, which is now Steve Irwin central on the Sunshine Coast...
Steve Irwin: Yeah, mate, that's where my heart beats from.
Andrew Denton: This was started by your mum and dad...
Steve Irwin: Yeah.
Andrew Denton: ..back in the '70s. And it was hard, wasn't it? It was so hard sometimes, your mum would cry. What was so tough?
Steve Irwin: Well, mate, it was 1970 and, um, Dad was a plumber - really well-to-do plumber - he did really well in Melbourne. But he gave it all away to follow his passion - reptiles. And Mum was a maternity nurse who actually wanted to follow her passion, which was joey kangaroos and koalas and wombats and platypus - raising them - you know, they're getting hit by cars all the time. So, together, they started the Beerwah Reptile Park in 1970. And it was tough times. We were on the main highway - like, the Bruce Highway - but, um, it was the Beerwah Reptile Park. And at that stage, snakes were something you hit with a stick, you know, crocodiles were just evil, ugly monsters that killed people and koalas and kangaroos made, you know, great, um, fur coats.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: So it was hard times, mate.
Andrew Denton: They weren't a bad barbecue either.
Steve Irwin: Ohhh!
Steve Irwin: Lucky enough, we're kind of...we're putting our foot on that kind of attitude, but, um...
Andrew Denton: No, that was wrong, people.
Steve Irwin: And it was, yeah, tourism... Exactly. And I'm bigger than you, mate.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: Hey, um, tourism... Just kidding. Steady.
Andrew Denton: This could be bad if you wrestle me to the ground...
Steve Irwin: Should we do that?
AUDIENCE: Yeah!
Steve Irwin: Yeah? Alright!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Andrew Denton: Tell you what...
Steve Irwin: (Laughs)
Andrew Denton: ..let's get a bit further in and we'll see how we go, alright?
Steve Irwin: Yeah.
Andrew Denton: Because I want to oil up first...
Steve Irwin: (Laughs) Seriously, tourism, was, you know, it was in its infancy back then and it was so tough that Dad had to go fishing on the sideline, he had to grow strawberries and capsicums to actually support, um, his...his passion, which was his wildlife facility.
Andrew Denton: You grew up with the animals. They were your playmates.
Steve Irwin: Absolutely. Absolutely, Andrew. In my house, when I was growing up, Mum would have 12, uh, pouches, you know, make-believe kangaroo pouches set up on the backs of chairs, virtually everywhere. So we'd have 12 little joeys, ranging from little pinkies all the way up to one-year-olds. Um, you know, koalas hanging off the curtains, you know, with gumleaves stuck in there, sugar gliders gliding through. Like, you'd be walking down through the house... (To cameraman) Stay with me, mate. ..the next minute, clack, you know, on your bare back you'd be...a possum - arggh! - ripped into you. And, of course, inside the house was just snakesville.
Andrew Denton: Really?
Steve Irwin: Oh, crikey, mate! Chock-a-block full of snakes. Every wall that was spare had snakes in it. You know, starting a reptile park, which then became a fauna sanctuary, it was like, whatever you could jam in the house, mate, 'cause everything needed to be close to your heart.
Andrew Denton: Your dad actually reckons you've got a gift.
Steve Irwin: Yeah.
Andrew Denton: An animal instinct which enables you to deal with animals. What is that gift, do you think?
Steve Irwin: Yeah, well, um, Dad was the first one to notice it - and good on him. I'm just a product of my parents and my environment. And I was four years old and Dad was catching snakes for the then Commonwealth Serum Laboratory, right? He was looking for brown snakes and tiger snakes at a place called Bulla in Victoria. And so we're looking for tiger snakes and brown snakes and I'm four years old and rattling around helping him. But, you know, I was playing imaginary games, imaginary armies. You know, shooting back at the...it was Japanese back then, 'cause my grandfather and great-grandfather died in WWII, so it was the Japanese I was hunting. Whatever. Please don't... Like, I...I drive a Toyota.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Steve Irwin: So, nonetheless... Hunting around, hunting around, and Dad's over there and here's this huge brown snake - a absolute whopper, well over five foot. (Stands up) I've come up and gone, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" (Stomps foot on imaginary snake) Like this. "Oh! Oh!" You know? Got it. "Dad! Dad! I got one! I got one!" And he's, like, "What is he on about?" "Look!" And here's this brown snake, Andy, and it's up on my shin. Like, I'm wearing plastic sandals. No socks either. And here's this brown snake with its head on my leg and I've got it pinned, almost as thick as my dad's wrist. And he's gone, "Whack," and belted me out of the way, crushed me like a bug. 'Cause I thought... I'd got this brown snake for him and thought I'd come out of this a hero, and he decks me. But he thought he saved my life, and, you know, for months, he's scratching his head. "How come that kid never got killed by that brown snake?" And I guess he figured it out then. He's figured, "This kid's got something." So, you know, he's watched this develop. Then Mum and Dad just propped me up. Just propped me up. Every time I'd make mistakes, they'd keep, "Hang in there, lad, hang in there." And they just kept helping me and persuading me to follow my passion, which was wildlife. And that, in essence, helped me be who I am.
Andrew Denton: I'm fascinated with this idea of this gift. Do you have a sense of it? When dealing with an animal, do you have a sense of, "I know what you'll do"? I mean, can you pick its personality, for instance? What is it in your head?
Steve Irwin: How on earth could I explain that? You know, I'm in Africa, right, and here's...here's...here's a pride of lions. I've never worked with lions in my life, ever. Righto. Got a camera crew with me. I'm, like, "Oh, yeah, there's a pride of lions. "Oh, I'm going to crawl up to them." Like, last week, a Japanese tourist got killed and eaten by a lion, probably the same pride that did it. But for some known...unknown thing that goes in my head and my heart, I know what I can do. So I get on all fours and I go up to these lions and sneak right up to them. And Johnny Stainton, who's around here somewhere, he's filming it, and he's like this... (Blows raspberry) "What's he doing?" I get up to the lions and go, "Eh!" They go, "Waaah!" and run off. How do you explain that? I don't know how to explain that. And I've never been bitten by a venomous snake. I play with them every day - well, kind of play with them - and never, ever been bitten. And I think that's, um...it's because when I grab a venomous snake, it's, like, going in on your shoelace. It's, like, people tie their shoes... (Grabs Andrew's shoelace roughly)
Andrew Denton: Yeah?
Steve Irwin: Yeah. Don't really give a rip. Whereas me, it's like, "Oh." (Gently handles shoelace) You know, you're very gentle with the shoelace. It's like this, mate. Most people deal with snakes - no, fair dinkum - the first thing they do is go for the head. Get them from the head, right?
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: (Reaching for Andrew's neck) What's the sensation when someone goes for your head? Pretty threatening, isn't it?
Andrew Denton: Tell the truth - is there ever a time when you're afraid?
Steve Irwin: Yeah, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty. Plenty of times. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I have to deal in some really heavy-duty places, you know, like, um, East Timor, for example. I was up there when there was some strife going on. I spend a fair bit of time in Central and South America with a bit of strife going on there, had a couple of nasty incidents happen in Africa, in Kenya, not long after the Nairobi bombing, actually. Yeah, they make me scared, like, you know, pretty scared. But what scares me more than anything is bringing my daughter into the world. The world has changed, Andrew, hasn't it? You know, there's this dark cloud of terrorism. She's been on 230-odd flights, I think, and she's, like, just five years old. So we spend a lot of time in planes, 'cause I like to take my family wherever I go in the world. People factor does actually scare the living daylights out of me, and I've seen some pretty awful, icky sort of things going on.
Andrew Denton: So animals don't scare you but humans do?
Steve Irwin: Oh, fair dinkum, mate, they do, yeah, they do.
Andrew Denton: I want to talk more about family in a little bit, but I'm curious in you offstage when you're not performing. Is there anything in your wardrobe that's not khaki?
Steve Irwin: Ah, I've got a pair of jeans.
Andrew Denton: Are you always at this level? Is there a quiet Steve Irwin?
Steve Irwin: Nah.
LAUGHTER
Steve Irwin: Nah, mate, nah.
Andrew Denton: Seriously?
Steve Irwin: Yeah, no, there is, there is. Like, I got...I had my shoulder taken off twice. (Opens shirt and indicates place) Um, oh, God, I was quiet then, mate.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: And I had a few cartilage operations, so stuck in the hospital with the drips and all that.
Andrew Denton: Beyond being heavily medicated, is there...do you have moments of repose, moments of just, "I'll just take it in and sit quietly"?
Steve Irwin: Nah. You know, I have to do a lot of plane flights, and, uh...oh, I'm a handful. I don't know, I haven't made it in the tabloids as the bloke who started the riots and stuff on the planes YET, but I guarantee you it will happen. You know, you can't hang your arm out the window and you can't stop and have a pee and look at the wildlife. You're stuck in this thing for, like, sometimes 14 hours in a leg. You know, like, going to America is a 14-hour stint, mate. It's shocking awful to sit there. And all the... You can't, I'm just... I like a good movie, but not five of them in a row. It's, like... And, you know, I don't read much, you know, like, I'm just...
Andrew Denton: You don't read? How come you don't read?
Steve Irwin: Well, I do read, but, you know, not for 14 hours. You know, surf mags take a good 20 minutes.
Andrew Denton: Do you ever get down? You talked about being frightened by human behaviour. What gets you down?
Steve Irwin: Um, I've been down, mate, I've been down, I've been way down. I've been down...I've been down as far as anyone can go down, mate. I lost my mum in a car crash. I went down, I went right down. I watched my dad suffer. I watched my whole family suffer. And I have never felt pain like that in my entire life, my friend. And what it did for me was it actually hammered home the whole family value thing and what it's like to have a family and you're all...everybody's someone's mum, you know? And I was down, I was down for the count. I was down for...two years I was down. Way down.
Andrew Denton: It's interesting when you say you've mimicked your parents, you look up to your dad, you've basically carried on the family business. Do you have a sense of yourself as yourself? What will it be for you when your father goes? Will you be able to be yourself?
Steve Irwin: I see my dad getting older and older and older, and I must admit I'm scared, I'm really, really scared, that when I lose him that my life is going to change yet again. I am going to go down again. But I'm really lucky that I've got the most drop-dead gorgeous wife on earth, who is just so strong and so passionate and so Stevo-orientated.
LAUGHTER
Steve Irwin: No, mate, you wouldn't... She is... If I said, "Righto, sweetheart, today we're going to jump off a cliff," she'll go, "Righto." She'd pack a bag, though.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: But she'd go, eh?
Andrew Denton: She's practical.
Steve Irwin: Yeah, I've got this thing...I've got the Terry factor, mate. I've got this wife that is so incredibly intelligent and strong that I reckon between us we'll get through it. And, of course, my daughter is like...she's going to be a Tibetan monk. She is, like, incredibly insightful. And when her gran died, she was very, very young but, you know, she'd hold my hand and she'd give me strength. And to this day, when I get an owie, like a croc bites me, you know, she'd put banana leaves on it and stuff, and, you know, make me feel good.
Andrew Denton: Yeah.
Steve Irwin: I guess when that time comes, because... I'm not sure what's going to happen but I've got some strong people, good strong family around me, mate.
Andrew Denton: You say that Terry's very Stevo-oriented.
Steve Irwin: Oh, yeah.
Andrew Denton: If Terry said to you, unlikely though this might be, "Steve, I want you to stop the travelling, I want you to just stay home," would you be prepared to do that? Does it work both ways? She'd jump over a cliff for you.
Steve Irwin: Absolutely, I'd do anything for her. Absolutely anything. My word. I got so lucky in 1992 when she walked into the zoo. I'm doing a crocodile demonstration, and I looked in the crowd. I'd been in the bush for two years catching crocs. Haven't seen any sheilas.
LAUGHTER So, yeah, I was hungry. And, um, come back and I'm doing a croc demo, and I look into the crowd and I see her and I'm, like, "Oh!" (Looks one way) "Whoa whoa whoa!" (Looks back at imaginary croc) To feed the croc, you know... Bloody croc tried to kill me and that. She stayed back and started talking to me and that was it - head over heels in love. And if she says to me, "That's it, we're stopping, we're doing this," then, well, I'd do it, because I know that she would not ask me to do that if it wasn't for the benefit of us - the family. It would have to be for the benefit of my daughter and our kid that's due to come. Otherwise she wouldn't ask. She's not that...you know, she's not that kind of sheila, you know? She's into what I'm into. She's as passionate about wildlife as I am. If I said, "Go up and stick your head in that elephant's bum," she'd do it, mate.
Andrew Denton: You're a smooth talker, Steve Irwin.
Steve Irwin: I am, mate. I am. Romantic.
Andrew Denton: What's your philosophy of fatherhood?
Steve Irwin: Um...my philosophy of fatherhood? You know, I just treat her exactly the same way as I would want to be treated. And, you know, the funny thing is, Andy, I treat my wildlife the same, you know? Like, if there was a croc there, I'd treat that croc like I'd treat my daughter, like I'd treat you, like I'd treat my wife, like I'd treat anyone. I treat things how I, in turn, would want to be treated. So my little kid, I just treat her how I want to be treated. You know how... My mum said, "You can't have ice-cream for breakfast." (Pretends to hand bowl to daughter) "Here, sweetheart, have it."
AUDIENCE GIGGLES
Steve Irwin: "Go hard." And, you know... Yeah. Absolutely. "You want to catch that snake? Sure, it's venomous, but we'll do it and I'll show you how," and we did it.
Andrew Denton: You have animals in the house, don't you?
Steve Irwin: Oh, yeah. My word.
Andrew Denton: She came close to a carpet snake once.
Steve Irwin: Yeah, bit her right on the face. Her first snakebite.
Andrew Denton: Oh, that must have been a proud moment.
Steve Irwin: It was a very proud moment. She's a snake... She's a snake maniac. My kid...my daughter's a snake freak. She loves snakes. Her favourite animal - the snake. You know, born and raised with snakes. So here's this carpet python coming across the road at night - we were going out to Poppy's house, and she's like, "Oh, Daddy, Daddy," you know. I said, "Yeah, don't worry, sweetheart. I'll save it." So I run out and grab the snake and she starts whingeing - "I want the snake!" "Alright, sweetheart, but watch out, he's a bit bitey." She grabs it and she starts singing, "Rock-a-bye, baby," like this. It goes whack! Bites her right on the lip. And she's like... (Almost whimpers) I said, "I told you he would bite you." She's like, "It's OK, Dad. Rock-a-bye..." Whack! Right on the nose. She goes, "Let it go, Dad." Gave it back to me. There's blood all pouring down there. I was very proud of her.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Andrew Denton: Is she...? Because you were raised to have no fear of animals - and it seems to me you naturally didn't - is Bindi the same? Is she going to be the same?
Steve Irwin: I reckon she's, um...she's a bit smarter than I was. In fact, I'd say she's a lot smarter than I was. I think the whole, girl thing... You know, this whole girl-boy thing... I don't know what it's like having a boy, but they don't seem incredibly intelligent till they reach 30. Really, I wasn't all that intelligent till I reached 30. Um, Bindi, I see, is a lot more clever and calculated before she actually jumps in. She'll...unlike me, when I was, say, five years of age, she'd anticipate - "Head, tail, body. Dad's there, he'll take the head. I'll get this bit." Whereas me, I just... "Ahhh!" ..just would have jumped in there. So I think she's a little more clever and calculated than I ever was at that age.
Andrew Denton: A lot of people see you as this... this larger than life Steve Irwin, in some ways a one-dimensional, almost cartoon character. But what they, perhaps, don't know is you've bought huge tracts of land in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji, US. Why have you done that?
Steve Irwin: I'm a conservationist through and through, Andrew. That's, er...that's why I was put on this planet, um, for the benefit of wildlife and wilderness areas. That's what I'm into. That's what makes me pumped, mate. That's what myself and Terry and our families have been all about.
Andrew Denton: So what's this land for?
Steve Irwin: Um, it's like national parks, mate.
Steve Irwin: We... You know, easily the greatest threat to the wildlife globally is the destruction and annihilation of habitat. So I've gone, "Right, well, how do I fix that? Well, making a quid here. People are keen to give me money over there. I'll buy it. I'll buy habitat." And I reckon the only thing wrong... Now, how's this? The only thing wrong with, you know, wildlife in Australia is that I don't own it. I could... Imagine how many kangaroos and crocodiles I could have if I owned Australia? It's, um... My wife is an American so she's got this, er... She's, um...you know, she's a good capitalist. And, er, she's very clever with money. Me, I'm not that clever and I don't really give a rip, but, er, she is. And, um, so whenever we get a...a, um...enough cash and enough...and a...and a chunk of land that we're passionate about, bang, we buy it. And what we're trying to do is we're trying to set an example to the world that, um, every single person can make a difference. Particularly those in the, um, in the political arena, um, those that have zoological facilities, any, you know, multinationals, any millionaires. They can all make a difference by buying chunks of land. And, in addition to that, every single person - man, woman and child, no matter what walk of life you're in, whether you're a, um, a fisherman, a janitor, um, Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter - you can make a difference in wildlife by simply not purchasing wildlife products. Because today, Andrew, the wildlife perpetrators, they're hard to spot, mate. But what it is, these wildlife perpetrators now kill animals and call it 'sustainable use'. That, "Oh, let's kill crocs, turn them into belts and that's sustainable," you know? That isn't sustainable. Since when has killing wildlife saved anything? So, I'm a wildlife warrior through and through. And buying land means: A. that we're going to be able to get animals back if, and or when they become highly endangered; and B. getting out into the world, taking you, the audience, with me, having an adventure, and making it exciting. Otherwise, you're stuck with the demographics that, say, David Attenborough's got which is a bit smaller than what I got. And changing people's opinions on wildlife. How's this? For the first time in history, mate, I've just been involved with an issue where people were worried about the welfare of a shark. How's that? For the first time in history. Yay!
DisMN
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 1999
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- 5,323
Thanks for posting that one Nutsy. I've been reading another Andrew Denton interview and it's quite funny with both Steve and Terry bantering back and forth.
2004 interview with Steve and Terry
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2004 interview with Steve and Terry
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mommy*RN
<font color=limegreen>Does Imodium work for verbal
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2006
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- 3,383
Thank you for posting the interview with Steve! I enjoyed reading it!
I am very saddened by the news of his death. My DS was just starting to get into his show and I was happy...so much better than Noggin!
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all those who knew and loved him. He was a true and passionate man and will be missed by so many...
I am very saddened by the news of his death. My DS was just starting to get into his show and I was happy...so much better than Noggin!
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all those who knew and loved him. He was a true and passionate man and will be missed by so many...
Nutsy
<font color=green>Only drinks Cappuccino<br><font
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2002
- Messages
- 28,201
Bindi's touching tribute
Touching tribute ... Steve Irwin died after receiving the best Father's Day present he could have wished for - his daughter Bindi telling the world she loved him "very, very much". / News Limited picture
IT was the best Father's Day present Steve Irwin could have asked for - a moving tribute from his eight-year-old daughter telling the world how she loved him "very, very much".
In Irwin's last magazine interview, Bindi told the September edition of marie claire in it's Father's Day special just how much her dad meant to her.
"I love that he's funny, he's entertaining and he's always there when I need him most," she said.
"I'm proud to have a dad like that, who takes on conservation issues around the world.
"I love him very, very much."
For Irwin, the rare father-daughter interview and photo was so treasured he requested all photos from the shoot be sent to him - a series Bindi will now treasure forever.
While Irwin had knocked back previous interview requests, he agreed to the shoot as it was "something he and Bindi could do together," a spokeswoman for the magazine said.
In the interview he said his daughter had inherited his love of animals: "The most important thing in Bindi's life is that she's grown up in a zoo. Bindi's passionate about animals, but she's also into singing, dancing and dress-ups, like any other little girl.
"I'd do anything to spend time with my daughter."
IT was the best Father's Day present Steve Irwin could have asked for - a moving tribute from his eight-year-old daughter telling the world how she loved him "very, very much".
In Irwin's last magazine interview, Bindi told the September edition of marie claire in it's Father's Day special just how much her dad meant to her.
"I love that he's funny, he's entertaining and he's always there when I need him most," she said.
"I'm proud to have a dad like that, who takes on conservation issues around the world.
"I love him very, very much."
For Irwin, the rare father-daughter interview and photo was so treasured he requested all photos from the shoot be sent to him - a series Bindi will now treasure forever.
While Irwin had knocked back previous interview requests, he agreed to the shoot as it was "something he and Bindi could do together," a spokeswoman for the magazine said.
In the interview he said his daughter had inherited his love of animals: "The most important thing in Bindi's life is that she's grown up in a zoo. Bindi's passionate about animals, but she's also into singing, dancing and dress-ups, like any other little girl.
"I'd do anything to spend time with my daughter."
HomeSweetDisney
You are my new dream.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2004
- Messages
- 5,347
Oh my lord, that Father's Day tribute from his daughter made me cry 
His poor wife and kids
His poor wife and kids
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